Not sure if currently possible, or a feature request:
OSMC GUI to be ‘blank’ ie a black screen shows when video is not playing, and no other controls or overlays are visible when the video is playing
OSMC media browsing and playback can still be controlled by remote app or another method
Example use case - home cinema projector with variable physical masking and lens zooming to accommodate different aspect ratios. The user sets the aspect ratio independently of OSMC before playback.
I am aware there is already a masking skin feature, but it seems this would be simpler and better in many ways, and allow a true ‘cinema’ experience for viewers even when cueing up playback and regardless of the exact aspect ratio of the media.
Your basically just wanting an option to not show the pause OSD correct? That might be a bit niche for @Chillbo to include in the OSMC skin. I asked an AI and it said the Amber skin has this feature so you could maybe try that. There is also the option of cloning a skin and then modifying it for your specific preferences.
Thanks for replying. No, I didn’t mean pause by ‘when a video isn’t playing’. Sorry if this was unclear. Rather, I meant a black screen to be displayed before any video even starts playing and after it stops playing. I.e the only thing ever visible on screen at any time is the video being played back. The reason hopefully makes sense by reading the example use case.
I don’t know about blacking out the entire UI so it can only be controlled via another device, but if the main thing you want is to remove it temporarily for a clean presentation I think you could use an add-on called “PreShow Experience” and then make a couple video files that are just black and then set those to play at the beginning and end of videos in that add-on. In this way you could start your video and then hit pause while it is playing the black video. The add-on is just making a video playlist when you start a video.
Kodi isn’t really meant to be used this way, so there’s no simple way that’s already implemented AFAIK. What you want is basically a video player that can be controlled remotely.
[quote=“darwindesign, post:5, topic:112824, full:true”]
I don’t know about blacking out the entire UI so it can only be controlled via another device, but if the main thing you want is to remove it temporarily for a clean presentation I think you could use an add-on called “PreShow Experience” and then make a couple video files that are just black and then set those to play at the beginning and end of videos in that add-on. In this way you could start your video and then hit pause while it is playing the black video. The add-on is just making a video playlist when you start a video.
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Thanks! That might be useful as a workaround, even though cumbersome, it’s better than nothing. I had already considered playing a black video before switching on the projector and playing the feature but sounds like this may take care of the ‘post-show’ experience too.
The same issue of the GUI would exist with a video player wouldn’t it? Kodi has the movie organisation and remote app control that perfectly fit using it this way, and I wondered if OSMC being more dedicated could make it a feature to ‘blank’ out the GUI.
My home cinema is being designed by a company who do professional cinemas, screening rooms and dubbing stages. They were impressed by the quality of OSMC (Vero) playback but noted the GUI would be a real mess before and after playback. They said venues would usually convert files to DCP and ingest it to the cinema server for clean playback, or the projectionist would manually switch at the right time for alternative content. At home without a paying audience this isn’t really feasible though! Thanks for your input.
After mulling it over for a bit I think there may be a path to get what you want without making a custom skin or losing the ability to use a remote. All you really need is for your home window to be blacked out if your primary control is via JSON-RPC. When you boot up your device it goes to the home window. When you tell it to play something remotely it will go back to the home window when it is done as the normal behavior is to return to whatever screen it was on before playback started. I think the OSMC skin actually has enough customization baked in (@Chillbo can probably confirm) where you can set the background to black, remove widgets, and turn off every single menu item to get you that blackout your looking for. If the OSMC skin can’t then Aeon Nox: SiLVO or Arctic Zephyr: Reloaded might.
I would suggest before doing that to consider using keymap editor and something like a universal remote programed as MCE or Xbox to keymap some windows to some buttons so you can still easily get to settings, add-ons, movies, series, etc. In this way you can still use a normal remote to do all the normal functions without having to fumble with a phone app, web UI, or whatever other control system your planning on using.
